Ted Balderree, Industry Manager, Consumer Products, Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions joins hosts Scott Sheppard & Gene Gable to explain some tips about transitioning from 2D to 3D design. Ted discusses how Autodesk’s powerful digital prototyping tools can not only assist in final product and packaging development but also provide early images, renderings, and elements designers can use in marketing, brochures, web, and other promotional materials. Having access to “final” product images long before final production can have an enormous impact on shortening time to market for new product introductions.

AutoCAD has set the standard in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets since 1982. Their aquisition of Alias and Maya have greatly expanded their portfolio of products enabling creative designers to access these powerful tools and integrate them within their workflow. Ted shares some tips on how designers can get training on these applications and 3D design techniques. Many colleges and universities offer classes on  AliasStudio and Maya, Autodesk Resellers offer local training classes around the world, or you can train yourself using their “Autodesk AliasStudio Personal Learning Edition“. The learning versions include interactive tips and guides within the applications while you are working on a project file.

Autodesk provides exceptional design tools for product development, manufacturing, architechture, video, entertainment, animation, gaming and more. You can download free trial versions of both AliasStudio (Windows only), or Maya (Mac/Win)

For more information on their full range of solutions visit: http://www.autodesk.com. They also have an Autodesk Gallery at One Market Street in San Francisco, CA showcasing over 20 exhibits featuring amazing work. 

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay shares his thoughts and experiences this week on the “Death of Macworld“, which he feels is greatly exaggerated. Even without Apple’s booth presence, Macworld remains a great place for networking, seeing a full breadth of Mac related products, and learn valuable skills in a range of areas. Looking ahead to next year’s event, Jay explains that although the nature of the show will be different without the famous Steve Jobs Apple keynote there will be plenty of interactive and experiential hands-on sessions that encourage social learning. See details, join their network, and stay tuned for Macworld 2010 at: http://www.macworldexpo.com/

Jay shares a tip on a font management tool – Type DNA – which adds a great deal of functionality as a plug-in to your favorite design applications including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Microsoft Office. Type DNA can recognize typefaces, organize them, and even provide suggestions on finding the perfect, complementary typefaces for any project. Check it out at: http://www.typedna.com

Jay maintains a special industry calendar with more details, dates, locations, and links at: http://www.design-tools.com/events/

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com

Fabrizio Scippa, Creative Director/Signor Dettaglio & Marc Aguilera, Color Management Director/Eclectic Technologist from Encompus, Inc. join hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for some hands-on tips about how they are using and have integrated color management tools into their design workflows. Encompus specializes in creating brands and identities for medium sized businesses and Fabrizio explains that color in the look of the brand is an extremely important element in their design philosophy. Since they often create brands for their clients across all mediums print to web, color consistancy is very important to them.

Fabrizio shares examples of how color has opened up many business opportunities for them. Growing up in Rome around a family business in interior design, Fabrizio has learned the impact of color in many forms. Marc, who has a photography background, works well with his team because he is able to accurately measure color elements in nature and successfuly are able replicate and communicate them for each project. Like many studios, Encompus sees color as being a top priority and Marc shares some details about their workflows and how they are able to maintain consistancy in their studio using standards such as GRACoL 7; share those color settings, calibrating their monitors and proofers. Marc shares that they provide each client with a document that “decodes” their brand colors within the various color spaces and is actively involved in color education speaking at seminars around the country.

Marc also shares some tips on how designers – who are often overwhelmed by the technology of color – can easily improve color consistancy in their designs with tips he’s presented in his discussions during the Color Control Freak seminars. His hands-on experience enable him to get the most of out available color tools from X-Rite, using their measurement and calibration devices in addition to relying on the Pantone Goe™ System and Pantone Matching System® swatches to acheive color they can rely on. Marc also explains how they use the EFI RIP designer edition to accurately match colors in their output.

Jay Nelson joins the chat with focused questions for Encompus about the Pantone Goe™ System and their ColorMunki. Marc shares a live client example where they were asked to match a terracotta tile color that after measuring it with the ColorMunki, found there was no exact match in the standard Pantone Matching System®. Fortunately for Encompus, when cross-referencing the color to the Goe system, they were able to identify an exact match that pleased the client and enabled them to

For more information about Encompus and examples of their work visit: http://www.encompus.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay shares a great tip for a retro-plugin that will definately spark up your next design called Permanent Press by Mister Retro at: http://www.misterretro.com. This unique plug-in lets you create professional quality vintage offset printing and ink effects with any design, photograph, type treatment or image. Jay’s hot topic of the week is whether or not the design industry is ready to adopt the Pantone Goe™ System. The bigger question is are the printers using the newly defined Pantone Goe™ System base inks or are they using their existing inventory with some other matching techniques? Overall, the new color system offers a larger range of colors, organized it into a manner that addresses some of the flaws inherent in the older, but widely adopted Pantone Matching System®.

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com

Drew Trujillo, Designer –better known as Dr. Woohoo! joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable this week to share his background and an inside look at his amazing design work. Fusing the best of art, technology, and design Dr. Woohoo’s technical and programming background help him to bring his visions to life. Drew explains, although his early background was in traditional mediums he soon became passionate about animation and digital art applications where his current expertise tests the boundaries of Adobe’s Creative Suite.

A renowned speaker, Adobe beta tester, and educator on Adobe Flash, AIR, and other interactive platforms. One of the best places to see his work in action is on In the Mod – Color Analytics: A Study of Color Palettes website. This site offers the ability to explore art, the interaction of color and palettes, and even lets you download your favorite sets directly to your Adobe apps. Dr. Woohoo gives us his description and experiences of the power working with Adobe AIR and how it integrates within the other Adobe Suite applications.

He has also published a book showcasing his work entitled, “Color Visualizations: Exploring the Circle, vol 02“. Where he uses software he developed to generate his artwork by extracting millions of color pixels in each image, analyzing and organizing the color data and then building the composition with absolute precision.

In addition to pushing the limits of available technology, Dr. Woohoo’s art is truly unique. He combines the organic qualities of nature and textures and expands them using digital enhancements that stand out in multiple mediums. His work is available for viewing and purchase online, including his kinetic art – Dandelions.

For more information, news, tips, his art, and more visit: http://blog.drwoohoo.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week to share the latest news and discussion about typefaces and a informative history of OpenType to celebrate the release of ITC’s Franklin – not Franklin Gothic offering a new range of options for larger display fonts. Jay and Gene, our resident “fontologists” share the use, sizing, and variations of this popular typeface. Jay also shares his review of the type focused movie – Helvetica, which recently came to his home town of Denver for a screening. PopChar celebrates it’s 20th birthday this month, which remains a great easy way to enter characters.

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com